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SpaceX Crew-3 launch delayed until Wednesday due to incoming storm

Georgina Torbet
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NASA has announced that the launch of four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) will be delayed until Wednesday, November 3. The launch had been planned for the early morning of Sunday, October 31 for a spooky Halloween mission, but this had to be pushed back due to a storm moving across the U.S.

“NASA and SpaceX now are targeting 1:10 a.m. ET on Wednesday, November 3 for the agency’s Crew-3 launch to the International Space Station due to a large storm system meandering across the Ohio Valley and through the northeastern United States this weekend, elevating winds and waves in the Atlantic Ocean along the Crew Dragon flight path for the Oct. 31 launch attempt,” NASA wrote in an update.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 astronauts participate in a countdown dress rehearsal at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 28, 2021, to prepare for the upcoming Crew-3 launch. The astronauts are at Launch Pad 39A with the Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon behind them during the rehearsal.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 astronauts participate in a countdown dress rehearsal at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 28, 2021, to prepare for the upcoming Crew-3 launch. The astronauts are at Launch Pad 39A with the Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon behind them during the rehearsal. SpaceX

NASA had been prepared to push back the launch due to rainy conditions in Florida which would make launching risky. The launch will now go ahead early in the morning hours of Wednesday, November 3. Liftoff is scheduled for 1:10 a.m. ET on Wednesday (10:10 p.m. PT on Tuesday), which you’ll be able to watch live.

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The weather is forecast to have cleared by this time, according to NASA: “Weather conditions along the ascent corridor are expected to improve for a November 3 launch attempt, and the 45th Weather Squadron forecast predicts an 80% chance of favorable weather conditions at the launch site.”

The four-person crew for the Crew-3 mission consists of NASA astronauts mission commander Raja Chari, pilot Tom Marshburn, and mission specialist Kayla Barron, plus European Space Agency astronaut mission specialist Matthias Maurer. The four will join the Expedition 66 crew of the ISS, currently consisting of seven astronauts from NASA, ESA, Russian space agency Roscosmos, and Japanese Space Agency JAXA.

The station won’t remain that busy for long though. There will be 11 crew members for just a few days, before four of the Crew-2 astronauts depart from the station on November 8. The remaining seven crew members will later be joined by three more Roscosmos colleagues in March next year.

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